Executive Summary

As businesses across Australia are impacted by labour and skills shortages, delivering effective and secure flexible work arrangements for frontline, shift and site-based workers has immediate benefits and should be a long term strategy for workforce sustainability.

The Shifting Expectations: Flexibility for frontline, shift, and site-based roles report shows how leadership commitment and innovative work practices are bringing flexibility and business benefits to frontline workplace environments including manufacturing, energy, logistics, mining, telecommunications.

Early indicators from site specific trials and programs (at Viva Energy, Worley, South32, Telstra, Unilever, Crown and Hanson) demonstrate positive impacts on workforce engagement and productivity beyond improved employee wellbeing.

In a tight labour market there are huge first mover advantages to those who can crack the code for flexible ways of working in frontline environments.

James Fazzino – Convenor, Champions of Change Coalition,
Chair of Manufacturing Australia.

Operational, structural, cultural, legal and historical factors must be taken into account when embedding flexible work at scale in these environments including: Enterprise Bargaining Agreements and cycles, fixed assets and customer location, technology and training.

 It is more complex to improve flexibility for shift and site-based roles. Flexibility needs to work both ways, in the interests of employees and employers, and there are gains to be made in engagement, diversity and productivity if we continue to challenge the ways we have worked in the past.

Scott Wyatt – CEO, Viva Energy.

Work being undertaken by Members of the Champions of Change Coalition is focussed on increasing the opportunities for secure flexible work across permanent frontline workforces, by working with employees and other stakeholders to challenge when, how and where work is done.

We are making progress in many areas across our workplaces to enable equal participation. By challenging traditional ways of working and sharing our experiences in relation to flexibility for frontline and site-based roles across industries we are creating the environment to deliver not only gender diversity but significant social and mental benefits for employees and communities.

Gillian Cagney – President ANZ, Worley.

[Duration: 02:16, closed captions available]

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